Bedrock Late Spring Impromptu Release - April 21

Matt_Allen · April 20, 2020, 10:35pm

i was hoping to skip this but there is too much there for that

Philip_N_Jones · April 20, 2020, 10:42pm

The average price is about $40, with some more and some less. Some are lots more and some are lots less. I don’t recall a minimum order, but there is a minimum shipping charge that makes it expensive to order less than a case.
Definitely a good mailing list to get on, but I suspect that there is a waiting list to get on the mailing list. Good wine, good people, good prices. What’s not to like? You will not regret it, particularly if you like zin and/or Syrah. I limit myself to zin, but that’s just me.
Phil Jones

Philip_N_Jones · April 20, 2020, 10:45pm

I forgot to mention that yes, there is usually a maximum order. Some wines you will be limited to two bottles. On other wines, the limit is much higher. But I doubt that most people order the maximum on the other wines. That would be a ton of wine.
Phil Jones

Rich_Brown · April 20, 2020, 10:52pm

Hey Everyone,

Here are the wines for the release tomorrow. We are still working out pricing but new wines and the fun little things like Shake Ridge Barbera and Under the Mountain Carignan will be in the typical vein of Bedrock pricing. The Weill Exposition series wines are obviously a little harder to price and we have been looking at wine-searcher and other outlets to get a sense of what market value is.

Library Release Wines:

2011 Weill Exposition Series 1,2 and 3
2012 Weill Exposition Series 1,2 and 3
2013 Weill Exposition Series 1,2 and 3

2012 Cuvee Caritas White Wine (Monte Rosso Semillon based)
I am really happy to be releasing the last few cases of this wine that we have been hoarding in the back of the warehouse for nearly seven years now. It is drinking beautifully, and the figgy, dense and savory Semillon character is coming out in spades. This isn’t quite as developed as one of the Kalin releases of Semillon (a high-water mark for aged Semillon in California in our book) that I love so much but one is starting to see a kinship develop. Just a reminder, as the last vintage we released of this was the 2016, this comes from the oldest Semillon I know of in America planted at Monte Rosso along with some Sauvignon Blanc from Kick Ranch in what is now the Fountaingrove AVA.

2013 Kamen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
We had the privilege of making this wine for two years and purposefully held a small amount back for a library release, knowing it would likely age beautifully. This is classic Moon Mountain Cabernet from one of the most impeccably farmed vineyards I have seen.

Previously Unreleased Cellar Selections

2014 Puccini Vineyard Zinfandel
One of our last vintages on its own from this 1 acre jewel placed deep in the folds of the western edge of Sonoma Valley as yields have been so reduced in recent years (this vineyard had fire burn through it in 2017) and a wine we have been loath to release as so little was made. The vines here were planted in 1906 and put out small amounts of elegant, spice-driven fruit. Following open-top fermentation in a small fermenter this was aged in neutral oak prior to bottling in Fall of 2015.

2015 Under the Mountain Vineyard Carignane
This comes from our first year working with this lovely site located in the toes of the Santa Cruz Mountains outside of Morgan Hill. Over the last few years the Gregory family has put an enormous amount of sweat and love into rehabilitating this vineyard from what was previously a pretty sorry state. Though the Zinfandel in 2015 was only good enough to make Old Vine, in 2015 we were so taken with this vibrant and dense expression of Carignan that we wanted to bottle some of it up on its own. The only time this wine has been shown to the public was when I had the good fortune to accompany Kelli White and Matt Naumann (Newfound Wines) on a trip to Chile last year for the first annual seminar on Carignan where I think it acquitted itself quite well (though my memory is fogged by all the Pisco we drank).

2017 Shake Ridge Barbera
This was our first vintage working with a few rows of Barbera from Ann Kraemer’s magical Shake Ridge Ranch in Amador County. I have always loved Barbera for its forthright beauty and fruit profile, and it tends to do very well in Amador County as the warm daytime temperatures tends to ameliorate the rambunctious and biting acidity the variety is so naturally blessed with. Since it was our first year, we simply destemmed the fruit into a 1 ton fermenter, let it ferment to dryness and pressed it to a couple neutral large puncheons— the overall hope being just to get a read on the fruit in its most basic form. Well, turns out this ain’t no basic, ahem, Barbera. The team loved the wine so much that we bottled up a barrel as much for personal consumption as anything else.

New Release Wines:

Bedrock 2018 Papera Ranch Heritage Wine
Papera Ranch, a fixture on the royal court of the Piner-Olivet area of the Russian River Valley, always seems to make wines that balance the intense blue fruit the area is so well known for with an additional layer of tensions and energy created by the large amount of Carignan and other mixed varieties found in our unique little block. I always love to compare this wine to those of Carlisle Vineyard, located just a few blocks away, as the wines are so different despite their nearness in locale. Whereas Carlisle tends to be more Marilyn or Chippendale dancer- bodacious and sultry—Papera is more Katherine Hepburn or Laurence Olivier—gorgeous and talented but perhaps more likely to read something in iambic pentameter.

Bedrock 2018 Ode to Lucien Red Wine
Ode to Lucien is our love-letter to the reds of Bandol—a wine born of the unique California soils and climes that traces its consanguinity back to northern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Only made in years where we feel Mataro is particularly good, this wine is based around the dense and expressive fruit from Evangelho Vineyard’s Block 6 and 7, some of which was fermented with a larger percentage of whole cluster than normal. This core element was blended into a 600 -gallon neutral foudre along with a small amount of Grenache from Gibson Ranch and Cinsault from Bechthold Vineyard for aromatic expressiveness and a trace of textural softening. This wine is a pup and will need a good decanting if opened early in its life as it is a bit wild and savage (not kill-your-husband-and-feed-him-to-a-tiger savage, just a little undomesticated).

Bedrock 2019 Judge Sauvignon Blanc
From the stone-strewn hillsides on the far end of Bennett Valley (what we just call “way o’er there” from our part of Sonoma Valley), Judge Sauvignon Blanc is always some of the most distinct and expressive fruit that enters the winery each year. Its very cool locale means it typically comes in quite late in harvest and maintains penetrating acidity despite the natural weight and exotic aromatics that comes from the musque clone, low yields and stony soils. Fermented in a mixture of cigare and Austrian Stockinger barrels, this wine stylistically leans more towards Bordeaux Blanc than the many reductively produced examples of the variety out there.

Bedrock 2018 Drummond’s Cuvee Petite Sirah
Drummond’s Cuvee, named for J.H. Drummond, who introduced Petite Sirah to California in the early 1880s at his Kenwood nursery, is our love letter to this chameleon-like variety (well, maybe a chameleon that can only turn various shades of dark). The 2018 comes entirely from the single old-vine Petite Sirah block at Teldeschi Ranch on the Dry Creek Bench. Here, the 100+ year old Pets is field blended with small amounts of Cinsault, Peloursin, Carignan and Vaccarese, all of whom contribute some elegance and perfume to the variety’s natural extensity and propensity towards density of dimensity (I have been at home too long….). This is delicious Petite Sirah and actually a bit more civil than one might expect from the variety.

Cellar Staples:

2019 Ode to Lulu Rose
2018 Old Vine Zinfandel
2018 California Syrah
2018 Bedrock Heritage Wine
2018 Evangelho Heritage Wine
2018 Pagani Ranch Heritage Wine

Awesome Morgan - those unreleased wines sound really interesting!

For the New Releases, is this going to be the only time that you offer them up…or will they also be available in the upcoming ‘normal’ release? In other words…do I need to make sure and snag Papera and Drummonds tomorrow? Thanks!

Michael_Martin · April 20, 2020, 10:53pm

Usually $35 flat shipping on 6 or more bottles.
Prices range from $19 - $75, with most in the $30-$40 range.

Mattstolz · April 20, 2020, 11:01pm

the quality for the price is a big part of the reason for the excitement. there are several really great offerings on this list that are $20 or below. the heritage blends average around $45ish? there’s a few bottles each release that push more like 50-60, and the Expositions are a rare rare exception that are more than that (there are very few bottlings from Bedrock that run above $60)

N_Justl · April 20, 2020, 11:28pm

Oops, missed that, sorry. Thanks for pointing that out!

Brian_S_t_o_t_t_e_r · April 21, 2020, 1:04am

Super excited!

Robert_M_yers · April 21, 2020, 1:53am

It’s going to be interesting how they price the exposition series. I’m sure they would like to make a little coin, but finding the sweet spot might be tough?

Philip_N_Jones · April 21, 2020, 1:56am

I seem to recall a rumor that three-bottle sets were going for $1000 on the secondary market? Or am I making that up?
Phil Jones

Michael_Martin · April 21, 2020, 2:01am

I think the 100 pointers recently sold on Winebid for around $250 ish each.
CT has them at $238-$264 each.

markjchambers · April 21, 2020, 2:09am

What is the story on the Exposition syrahs? What made them special and why aren’t they made any more?

Michael_Martin · April 21, 2020, 2:24am

Here is the Cliff Notes version.

Morgan tried to see if he could make a 100 point Parker wine which was outside his house Syrah style and he did it three ways with varying amounts of Viognier. He eventually reached the 100 point goal with the 2013 set. There were some issues in the vineyard and many of the Syrah vines were lost. He still makes a version of the wine, but not in the three bottle series as he did in ‘11, ‘12 and ‘13.

Mattstolz · April 21, 2020, 2:30am

I always think of them as the “Ode to Lala” trio. Like Bedrock trying their hand at the Guigal LaLa wines. More new oak, riper, etc.

joejolesch · April 21, 2020, 3:25am

Welcome to the forum! It’s hard to beat the quality for the price (QPR) of Bedrock across all their offerings. Their staples are excellent for $19; Old Vine Zin and Ode to Lulu are board favorites.

What kinds of wine do you enjoy? With shipping, the value deteriorates the fewer you order so it would be helpful to understand what you like to drink before ordering a case. IMHO, you couldn’t go wrong with 4 OVZ, 6 Lulu, and 2 heritage for a sampler case…that way you can let the reds rest while enjoying an insanely good Rosé this spring (it likely won’t make it to the summer).

B_Thorne · April 21, 2020, 4:51am

I’m new here and I’ve not heard of Bedrock before now, but can see there’s a lot of excitement about the winery. I’d like to sign up for the mailing list but I’m worried that it might be out of my price range. What do these wines run? Is there a minimum or maximum order?

Welcome to the forum! It’s hard to beat the quality for the price (QPR) of Bedrock across all their offerings. Their staples are excellent for $19; Old Vine Zin and Ode to Lulu are board favorites.

What kinds of wine do you enjoy? With shipping, the value deteriorates the fewer you order so it would be helpful to understand what you like to drink before ordering a case. IMHO, you couldn’t go wrong with 4 OVZ, 6 Lulu, and 2 heritage for a sampler case…that way you can let the reds rest while enjoying an insanely good Rosé this spring (it likely won’t make it to the summer).

Great suggestions here. That rose seriously, seriously rocks.

Morgan_Twain-Peterson · April 21, 2020, 2:29pm

Hey Everyone,

Here are the wines for the release tomorrow. We are still working out pricing but new wines and the fun little things like Shake Ridge Barbera and Under the Mountain Carignan will be in the typical vein of Bedrock pricing. The Weill Exposition series wines are obviously a little harder to price and we have been looking at wine-searcher and other outlets to get a sense of what market value is.

Library Release Wines:

2011 Weill Exposition Series 1,2 and 3
2012 Weill Exposition Series 1,2 and 3
2013 Weill Exposition Series 1,2 and 3

2012 Cuvee Caritas White Wine (Monte Rosso Semillon based)
I am really happy to be releasing the last few cases of this wine that we have been hoarding in the back of the warehouse for nearly seven years now. It is drinking beautifully, and the figgy, dense and savory Semillon character is coming out in spades. This isn’t quite as developed as one of the Kalin releases of Semillon (a high-water mark for aged Semillon in California in our book) that I love so much but one is starting to see a kinship develop. Just a reminder, as the last vintage we released of this was the 2016, this comes from the oldest Semillon I know of in America planted at Monte Rosso along with some Sauvignon Blanc from Kick Ranch in what is now the Fountaingrove AVA.

2013 Kamen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
We had the privilege of making this wine for two years and purposefully held a small amount back for a library release, knowing it would likely age beautifully. This is classic Moon Mountain Cabernet from one of the most impeccably farmed vineyards I have seen.

Previously Unreleased Cellar Selections

2014 Puccini Vineyard Zinfandel
One of our last vintages on its own from this 1 acre jewel placed deep in the folds of the western edge of Sonoma Valley as yields have been so reduced in recent years (this vineyard had fire burn through it in 2017) and a wine we have been loath to release as so little was made. The vines here were planted in 1906 and put out small amounts of elegant, spice-driven fruit. Following open-top fermentation in a small fermenter this was aged in neutral oak prior to bottling in Fall of 2015.

2015 Under the Mountain Vineyard Carignane
This comes from our first year working with this lovely site located in the toes of the Santa Cruz Mountains outside of Morgan Hill. Over the last few years the Gregory family has put an enormous amount of sweat and love into rehabilitating this vineyard from what was previously a pretty sorry state. Though the Zinfandel in 2015 was only good enough to make Old Vine, in 2015 we were so taken with this vibrant and dense expression of Carignan that we wanted to bottle some of it up on its own. The only time this wine has been shown to the public was when I had the good fortune to accompany Kelli White and Matt Naumann (Newfound Wines) on a trip to Chile last year for the first annual seminar on Carignan where I think it acquitted itself quite well (though my memory is fogged by all the Pisco we drank).

2017 Shake Ridge Barbera
This was our first vintage working with a few rows of Barbera from Ann Kraemer’s magical Shake Ridge Ranch in Amador County. I have always loved Barbera for its forthright beauty and fruit profile, and it tends to do very well in Amador County as the warm daytime temperatures tends to ameliorate the rambunctious and biting acidity the variety is so naturally blessed with. Since it was our first year, we simply destemmed the fruit into a 1 ton fermenter, let it ferment to dryness and pressed it to a couple neutral large puncheons— the overall hope being just to get a read on the fruit in its most basic form. Well, turns out this ain’t no basic, ahem, Barbera. The team loved the wine so much that we bottled up a barrel as much for personal consumption as anything else.

New Release Wines:

Bedrock 2018 Papera Ranch Heritage Wine
Papera Ranch, a fixture on the royal court of the Piner-Olivet area of the Russian River Valley, always seems to make wines that balance the intense blue fruit the area is so well known for with an additional layer of tensions and energy created by the large amount of Carignan and other mixed varieties found in our unique little block. I always love to compare this wine to those of Carlisle Vineyard, located just a few blocks away, as the wines are so different despite their nearness in locale. Whereas Carlisle tends to be more Marilyn or Chippendale dancer- bodacious and sultry—Papera is more Katherine Hepburn or Laurence Olivier—gorgeous and talented but perhaps more likely to read something in iambic pentameter.

Bedrock 2018 Ode to Lucien Red Wine
Ode to Lucien is our love-letter to the reds of Bandol—a wine born of the unique California soils and climes that traces its consanguinity back to northern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Only made in years where we feel Mataro is particularly good, this wine is based around the dense and expressive fruit from Evangelho Vineyard’s Block 6 and 7, some of which was fermented with a larger percentage of whole cluster than normal. This core element was blended into a 600 -gallon neutral foudre along with a small amount of Grenache from Gibson Ranch and Cinsault from Bechthold Vineyard for aromatic expressiveness and a trace of textural softening. This wine is a pup and will need a good decanting if opened early in its life as it is a bit wild and savage (not kill-your-husband-and-feed-him-to-a-tiger savage, just a little undomesticated).

Bedrock 2019 Judge Sauvignon Blanc
From the stone-strewn hillsides on the far end of Bennett Valley (what we just call “way o’er there” from our part of Sonoma Valley), Judge Sauvignon Blanc is always some of the most distinct and expressive fruit that enters the winery each year. Its very cool locale means it typically comes in quite late in harvest and maintains penetrating acidity despite the natural weight and exotic aromatics that comes from the musque clone, low yields and stony soils. Fermented in a mixture of cigare and Austrian Stockinger barrels, this wine stylistically leans more towards Bordeaux Blanc than the many reductively produced examples of the variety out there.

Bedrock 2018 Drummond’s Cuvee Petite Sirah
Drummond’s Cuvee, named for J.H. Drummond, who introduced Petite Sirah to California in the early 1880s at his Kenwood nursery, is our love letter to this chameleon-like variety (well, maybe a chameleon that can only turn various shades of dark). The 2018 comes entirely from the single old-vine Petite Sirah block at Teldeschi Ranch on the Dry Creek Bench. Here, the 100+ year old Pets is field blended with small amounts of Cinsault, Peloursin, Carignan and Vaccarese, all of whom contribute some elegance and perfume to the variety’s natural extensity and propensity towards density of dimensity (I have been at home too long….). This is delicious Petite Sirah and actually a bit more civil than one might expect from the variety.

Cellar Staples:

2019 Ode to Lulu Rose
2018 Old Vine Zinfandel
2018 California Syrah
2018 Bedrock Heritage Wine
2018 Evangelho Heritage Wine
2018 Pagani Ranch Heritage Wine

Awesome Morgan - those unreleased wines sound really interesting!

For the New Releases, is this going to be the only time that you offer them up…or will they also be available in the upcoming ‘normal’ release? In other words…do I need to make sure and snag Papera and Drummonds tomorrow? Thanks!

Heya- this will likely be the only time they are offered as they are all pretty small production (Papera was only 5 barrels for instance). That said, we have no way to anticipate what response might be today. The hope was to offer a few things now and make the Fall Release a bit smaller. As you will read in the release newsletter the lack of restaurant and retail business has really killed cash flow so on top of doing something for restaurant folks who are hurting we are also trying to smooth out winery operations a bit. Cheers! -M

Robert_M_yers · April 21, 2020, 2:37pm

Should be a good on a resume for a consulting winemaker business I’d think.

Rich_Brown · April 21, 2020, 2:47pm

Perfect! Thanks for confirming that Morgan!

mpsuh · April 21, 2020, 2:58pm

I’m new here and I’ve not heard of Bedrock before now, but can see there’s a lot of excitement about the winery. I’d like to sign up for the mailing list but I’m worried that it might be out of my price range. What do these wines run? Is there a minimum or maximum order?

Welcome to the forum! It’s hard to beat the quality for the price (QPR) of Bedrock across all their offerings. Their staples are excellent for $19; Old Vine Zin and Ode to Lulu are board favorites.

What kinds of wine do you enjoy? With shipping, the value deteriorates the fewer you order so it would be helpful to understand what you like to drink before ordering a case. IMHO, you couldn’t go wrong with 4 OVZ, 6 Lulu, and 2 heritage for a sampler case…that way you can let the reds rest while enjoying an insanely good Rosé this spring (it likely won’t make it to the summer).

I’m also new to Bedrock and got my first shipment a month ago. Ode to Lulu was phenomenal. I might have to buy more… my wallet says no but my heart (mouth!?) says yes